Giulio Ciccone came close to clinching Stage 2 of the Vuelta a España after a thrilling showdown on the slopes of Limone Piemonte.
After a sprinters delight on the opening day here in La Vuelta, stage 2 featured a rolling 160 km route from Alba through the Piedmont region, finishing in a punchy climb to Limone Piemonte. The decisive finale consisted of a 10 km climb averaging over 5%, with the last 1.8 km ramping above 8% – a perfect setup for our explosive Italian.
In the final kilometers, the Team worked to position Ciccone perfectly up front. Approaching the climb, the likes of Daan Hoole, Soren Kragh-Andersen and Mads Pedersen put in big shifts to leave the final 3km up to Julien Bernard and Andrea Bagioli to really light it up. On the last stretch, Ciccone launched a powerful kick and seemed certain of victory. Vingegaard (Visma – LAB), emerged from his slip-stream and rallied in the closing metres, pipping Ciccone in a photo-finish to take the stage.
LIMONE PIEMONTE, ITALY - AUGUST 24: (L-R) Giulio Ciccone of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek and Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Team Visma | Lease a Bike sprint at finish line to win the stage during the La Vuelta - 80th Tour of Spain 2025, Stage 2 a 159.5km stage from Alba to Limone Piemonte 1389m / #UCIWT / on August 24, 2025 in Limone Piemonte, Italy. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
From Cicco..
I was a bit boxed in for the last 500 metres, with Ayuso in front of me. I just went for it intuitively, but that was perhaps a bit too early. It was difficult to hold on. I went with too big a gear and the last 50 metres were too hard but that's how it is. My legs are very good, but it's a shame I didn't win. This was a really big goal as I really wanted to take the jersey today but we'll keep trying.
